Figure 1.--This is the boys' choir depicted in the 1971 "Boys'/Mal'chiki". It is the only Russian film we know about choirs.

Boy choirs are important in several countries. Each of these countries have both feature films and domumentaries on these choirs. The films listed here are both American and foreign films. The documentaries, however, are mostly American or English. While there have been relatively few American films, there have been several European movies. We are including films about choirs as well as movies in which choirs are featured. This appears to be a topic which was of greater interest before the 1970s. We have noted few recent films about choirs, the British made for TV serial "The Choir" being a notable exception.

Overview

A few films have dealt with boy choirs in several different countries. These countries are documenraries about choir in general or brief visits swith specific choirs.

Austria

Some interesting movies have been made in Austria about boys choirs--aklmost always the Vienna Boys's choir. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by the Vienna choir boys. the various types of sailor suits they werar are featured.

England

A HBC contributor has provided information on an English movie, but unfortunately does not remember the title. One of the better productions about choirs was a recent BBC series called The Choir featured a noted young singer and many images of choristers in a full English choir costume, with a large collar.

France

Some interesting movies have been made in France about boys choirs. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by choirs in France. Unlike neighboring Germany, the sailor suit was not commonly worn for French boy choirs.

Germany

Germany about boys choirs. The movies have been of uneven quality, but do show some details about the cotumes worn by choirs in Germany. The sailor suit is the most common costume, but lederhosden are also often featured.

Japan

We only know of one Japanese film in which a choir plays a role. The title appropriately enough is "The Choir". The film is set in a boarding school.

Poland

An HBC contributor has provided some information on a Polish boys' choir film, but as it was in the Polish language, few details about the plot. HBC believes that the choir costumes portayed are authentic.

Russia

We have not noted many Russian boy or children's choirs. We know nothing about the Tsarist era. The Orthodox Church did not promote choirs like the Catholics. The Soviets did found some choirs. We are not sure about the chronology, but we only note them after World War II. The only choir movie we have founds is "Boys/Mal'chiki", A Soviet movie made in 1971.

United States

The United States is not widely assocaited with boy choirs. There are actually quite a few boy choirs in America. HBC knows, however, of very few American movies dealing with these choirs.